South Park: ''Cartoon Wars, Part 2''Review

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Bart Simpson joins the battle between Cartman and Family Guy.

By Eric Goldman

After South Park aired "Cartoon Wars: Part 1" last week, there was a lot of speculation about what was in store for this week's episode. A lot of people thought it would be a very Matt and Trey move to not really have a "Part 2," and that perhaps a new episode would air that would make no mention of the events of last week. Many brought up the infamous time South Park had a cliffhanger, only to return the next week with an episode that consisted entirely of the "Terrance and Phillip" show the kids on South Park love to watch. So you can bet there were a lot of people yelling, "I knew it," as this week's episode began with a voiceover saying, "And now, the thrilling conclusion of 'Cartoon Wars'&#Array; will not be seen tonight!" And yes, "Terrance and Phillip" did indeed begin to air.

Of course it was all a self-aware joke, as we watched Terrance and Phillip have their own encounter with Mohammed censored and went to complain to their network. Soon enough though, the show did return to Cartman's quest to get Family Guy off the air, and Kyle's mission to stop him. I wondered if this week Matt and Trey's mocking of Family Guy might get a bit dirtier, and it did, but in a bizarre, inspired way. Cartman learned that the writers of Family Guy are in fact&#Array;manatees. Didn't see that coming, did you? The manatees are kept in a tank on the Fox lot, where they nudge "idea balls" with random topics written on them, and push them into a "joke carbine," where they are placed together, which we're told creates the perfect Family Guy jokes.

On this episode, the "Cartoon Wars" title went even further, as Cartman found himself with a surprising ally in his fight against Family Guy: Bart Simpson. Okay, they never gave him a name, but I'd say the yellow skin, spiky hair, orange t-shirt and skateboard were some subtle hints. Of course while Cartman was happy to accept Bart's help, he also had to make sure Bart knew his place; when Bart boasted that he'd once taken the head off a statue in his home town, Cartman casually mentioned that he'd once turned the parents of a kid he didn't like into chili and fed them to him. And in a nod to another long running animated show, Cartman and Kyle's hysterical slap-fight took them tearing through the King of the Hill offices, while the peaceful animators quietly kept working.

Terrance and Phillip return as the Cartoon Wars heat up

I'd mentioned last week that I felt that South Park might be best served if it backed away from so often having episodes commenting on itself. I still think that's a good idea, but I have to admit, "Cartoon Wars" once more showed how fun it can be when an animated series is produced so quickly that they can immediately respond to anything. South Park has often had their own brand of odd little morality tales, but some fans have criticized it for doing this too often in recent episodes. Obviously taking note of this, Matt and Trey proved they can mock themselves as much as anyone, as Terrance and Phillip are told by their network president, "Your show has become so preachy and full of messages that you've forgotten how to be funny!" Later, Kyle got a ride to the Fox lot from a man who wished him good luck saving Family Guy, saying "I know it's just joke after joke, but I like that! At least it doesn't get all preachy and up its own ass with messages, you know?" Sure this is in fact another message, but it's a fair one: If South Park is too preachy, there are shows like Family Guy out there too, and there's room for both of them.

In the end, Kyle managed to turn Bart to his side, causing a furious Cartman to ask, "You gave him one of your gay little speeches, didn't you?!" And indeed he did, as Kyle gave one more speech to the President of Fox, convincing him that freedom of speech and not giving into terrorist threats is too important. And so Family Guy aired, and the America of South Park watched as Peter Griffin opened his door and saw Mohammed. Except we at home didn't see that, as text appeared on a dark screen stating, "In this shot, Mohammed hands a football helmet to Family Guy. Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Mohammed on their network." I've already seen some online debate about this and whether it was always the intended joke, or if Matt and Trey actually animated the scene and Comedy Central truly refused to air it. I lean towards the latter being more likely, as it seems much more in tune with Matt and Trey's sensibilities to really try to "go all the way" with their point.

I want to thank Grover Anderson and Jared Tremonti, who both wrote in last week and reminded me that the really ironic thing here is that South Park actually already did show Mohammed prominently, in the "Super Best Friends" episode in 2003. Clearly Matt and Trey are also commenting on how times have changed, and how the acts of select extremists can create such specific fears in the powers that be; hammering home their point was the episode's conclusion, which featured terrorists responding to Family Guy with a cartoon of their own, showing Jesus defecating on George W. Bush and the American flag, which pointedly was shown without being censored.

I should also add that I recently attended a Q&A with the Family Guy writers, and they certainly didn't appear to be manatees. But it could have all been an elaborate ruse, I suppose.